Motorist charged with carrying a gun

Staff reports

Published 11:53 am, Wednesday, January 2, 2013

BRIDGEORT -- A city man was arrested early Monday after police found him with a loaded pistol during a motor vehicle stop.

DeAndrea Harper, 19, was stopped at the intersection of Brooks and Spring streets at 1:45 a.m. after officers saw him driving his Nissan Maxima without headlights.

The suspect attempted to drive off, police spokesman Bill Kaempffer said, and Officers Manuel Santos and Bobby Jones pulled him over. Harper told police that he didn't have a driver's license and when he was being patted down officers felt what appeared to be a firearm in his jacket pocket, Kaempffer said. The serial number on the gun had been scraped off, the police spokesman said..

Harper was charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, removing an ID number from a firearm, possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle and criminal possession of a firearm.

He was held on $75,000 bond and is expected to be arraigned later today at Superior Court. Harper's three passengers were released without charges.